Photo by Dave Herholz

The Birds and The Bees

Let’s talk about sex. It is made out to be a lot easier than it is. We all have been in the short, and don’t forget to mention AWKWARD situation where The Birds and The Bees are brought up. But why is it so awkward?

So, at some point in our lives there comes a time where we question how babies are made. Sexual Education is important. If you think that babies descend from cute, little baskets in the clouds, you should probably keep reading…

Let’s Get This Straightened Out

In an article explaining the state policies of our country explaining sexual education guidelines, “only 22 states […] mandate sexual education” within schools while only “13 states require that instruction be medically accurate.” Wait, what?! So the government only requires a quarter of this nation’s children to receive factual information about sex. Learning about sex is much easier in a classroom than having “the talk.”

Many school districts are not willing to reveal what they teach in their classrooms, making it difficult for the outsiders to distinguish the lies from the truth.

More information on the United States’ policies on Sex and HIV Education.

Map from Huffington Post

So why do we even have to learn about this? First, knowing the basic concept of sex is important. Also, without proper knowledge, the consequences seem much more unimportant than they truly are.

In an Huffington Post article, “These Maps Show Where Kids In America Get Terrifying Sex Ed” by Rebecca Klein, a former producer at NPR, it explains how the United States has a higher teenage pregnancy rate compared to any other highly developed country. Data from Guttmacher Institute claims that New Mexico and Alabama have some of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country. Teens are having more sex than ever before, but are also picking up a record breaking number of STI’s according to a newly released report by the CDC.

The CDC goes on to explain that 83% of girls who are sexually experienced didn’t receive proper sex ed until after they had already lost their virginity.

Consequences resulting from sex are explained in sexual education courses, without these courses, many teens lack proper knowledge about this issue. Teen pregnancy seems to be more consistent in states that do not enforce sex ed.

Is Abstinence Really Key?

In 37 states, information about abstinence is required to be shared with students.  I clearly remember back in health class the only perspective we learned was “abstinence is key.”  Yet, another way too look at educating students about sex would be offering methods of contraception.

Even Regina George’s mom isn’t as biased as our nation’s school system when it comes to learning about sexual protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNVmh5qUpsg

The Society for Adolescent Medicine has newly stated that “abstinence-only programs threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life.” In the same article, “Effective Sex Education,”a study showed that 94 percent of parents said that sexual education should cover contraception when discussing sexual education. Contraceptions include methods such as birth control or condoms.

While many organizations suggest that learning both abstinence and contraception should be taught, the government has provided over one and a half billion dollars (not to mention that these are dollars of taxpayers) into abstinent-only funding programs since 1981. These programs which enforce abstinence have been proven unsuccessful for many years since it has no effect on teens delaying sex. Abstinence-only programs are highlighted in 25 states… So is this really being that effective?!

Not only are states usually enforcing abstinence-only lessons, but also are enclosing false information about the medical aspect of sex. The insufficient number of 13 states only require that the information they are teaching be medically accurate! So I guess you could say that babies DO come into this world falling from the clouds in little baskets in over half of the country and get away with it…

I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty stupid to me. In Michigan (a state that does not require sex ed to be taught) teachers aren’t allowed to even mention abortion as “a method of reproductive health” in any way.

In Mean Girls, Coach Carr is teaching sex ed to some students.  On his chalkboard the first thing we see is “ABSTINENCE” in the background… Not only is he emphasizing abstinence to his students, but he is also giving false information! Who knew that if you had sex you’d die?! I’m glad I’m not a kid in his class…

If you would like to see Coach Carr’s view on sex please watch this video, “Don’t Have Sex”

Well, now I hope you know that if you have sex you will not die… Although Mean Girls is not the most credible source for sexual education, it still gets the point across about what not to do.

In fact, there are many contraceptives and methods one can use to help prevent consequences.  Even though our country tries to keep it on the DL, they exist. Learning about sex is important and many people still have questions about the subject or are just too embarrassed to ask (that’s okay, too.)

Here’s one last video explaining everything you’d need to know (and more)…